This document contains the proposed specification for a generic language-independent communication protocol to control experiments and measurement hardware.
A certain amount of formality is targeted, to keep the language clear and precise, and to follow the style of similar specifications elsewhere.
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in {rfc}2119.
However, at this point the specification is still in the rough design phase, so there is, for example, no separation into normative and non-normative parts, yet.
Contributions and feedback are welcome from interested participants!
Lengthy discussions in PR comments or Github Discussions quickly become confusing and convoluted in the present UI. To avoid this, discussions should mainly happen in the project's issue tracker, in small and focused issues. When there is agreement on the main points of an issue, a PR can be prepared.